PCA 2012: From FPPs to big cash

Back in May, PokerStars player Steve "Roversfan95" Westlund from Lancashire in the UK started playing the PCA Mega-Path satellites. Within 18 days, he had worked his way through all eight rounds and won himself a $15,000 trip to the Bahamas. At the time, it was the biggest prize he'd ever won - and the PCA was to be the biggest tournament he'd ever played.

The former soldier, who was in the British Army for 23 years and served in Belfast, Armagh, the first Gulf War, Bosnia and the Falklands, was absolutely thrilled to be heading to the Bahamas. His total investment for his $15k trip was only 70 Frequent Player Points in a 10 FPP Mega-Path Round 1 Turbo rebuy tourney - just over a dollar's worth of buy-ins.

Westlund on another one of his adventures

You might think that just getting to the PCA, accompanied by his wife Rita, would be enough for Steve, who now works as a heating engineer. But Steve managed to get even more value out of his 70 FPPs!! He worked his way through nearly four days of the tourney and managed to finish in 85th place, for $25,000.

At the time he qualified, Steve said: "I've never played anything as big as the PCA, WSOP, EPT etc. Poker is a hobby and I definitely couldn't afford to buy entries to these kind of tournaments. I'm absolutely delighted. I've always planned to play a big tourney and was going to play WSOP for my 50th birthday so this couldn't have come at a better time."